Skate park coming to Lakeside

LAKESIDE  Sidewalk surfers, get your wheels checked out and ready to go, skateboarding is coming to Lindo Lake.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors this week unanimously gave the funding go-ahead for a skateboard park at Lindo Lake County Park.

The 45-acre community park features a 1.5-mile trail around two lakes, a fitness area, tennis courts, a softball field, horseshoe pits and more, adjacent to the Lakeside Community Center and Teen Center.

The project is expected to cost $603,290, with $407,410 coming via operating transfers from Lakeside Park Lands Dedication Ordinance Fund and $195,880 from the General Fund.

“This is really great news for the community of Lakeside; this action gets the ball rolling, finally,” Supervisor Dianne Jacob said. “Lakeside has a growing population of skateboarders who currently use existing busy public streets, parking lots and other places to skate. However, the continued use of these areas for recreation has resulted in damage to public and private structures and places children at risk for injury because there is no place within Lakeside where youth can ride their skateboards safely.”

Not everyone in the community is stoked about the park.

Lakeside resident Billy Ortiz, who considers himself “a preservationist first,” is concerned about growth and the county’s need to “fill in every space available at the park.” He said that when Lakeside was founded in 1886, one of its biggest attractions was the wide open spaces.

“I think its great that our kids will have a place to cut it loose without being run off by the authorities, but I also believe kids will be kids and will still tear up the age old cement/rock walls built by our early founders,” Ortiz said.

Among the next steps for the park is the awarding a construction contract. There is no timetable for the construction as yet.

The county is also looking for an organization that will provide volunteers to do routine maintenance of the Lakeside Skate Park and to provide $13,000 a year to the county for additional maintenance costs.